There is a new soul with us at The Secret Acre.

Meet Noodle, the labradoodle!

When our beloved Ruby passed away before Christmas we were very clear. We were not going to have another dog for at least a year in order to go travelling. But fate had other plans for us.

While Covid had already dented dreams of travel, just a few days after Ruby’s passing, Jackie, a very close family friend, and Emma’s Mum’s best friend, also tragically died.

Jackie was a retired farmer, and her own holding was alive, not only with her favourite Jacob Sheep, but a collection of various cows, donkeys, birds and dogs, all in need of rehoming.

When Jackie went away, her farm was a favourite place for the nieces and nephews to visit for a staycation, helping work through the thick folder detailing daily feeding and mucking out tasks.

So we had met Noodle already on one such visit. A gentle, placid dog, despite a difficult start to life being recused from a puppy farm, she stoically put up with three over excited children, convinced she was Falkor from The Neverending Story, while they used washable coloured crayons all over her white coat for a more authentic fairy tale look.

Ruby came to us in tragedy, when Emma’s Mum passed away, and with the passing of Jackie only days after losing Ruby, leaving Noodle in need of a new home, it just seemed like serendipity.

It’s been hard for Noodle of course, a middle aged dog now experiencing a complete change, but slowly as the recent weeks have gone by, she is starting to settle into her new home and feel secure again in her new acre.

While we are enjoying having a dog back in the house to love.